Throwback Thursday: Dingane Masanabo

Dingane Masanabo used to score goals for the likes of Moroka Swallows, Platinum Stars and Black Leopards, but is finding life tough since hanging up his boots.

Masanabo is currently unemployed having packed shelves in his previous job.

"I was a merchandiser at On The Dot till last year November," Masanabo tells KickOff.com.

"I was working with the magazines in different stores packing them in order."

Ad

The Benoni-born Masanabo says out of all the other clubs he turned out for, Stars [back then Silver Stars] is where he enjoyed his football the most.

"It was where I was the captain. I spent more years at Platinum, winning the Telkom Cup [in 2006] and playing the Coca-Cola Cup final against Kaizer Chiefs [in 2003]," he says.

Though the most he earned as a player was R30 000, Masanabo doesn't envy current players' high salaries. He would still opt to play back then if he was made to choose.

"I prefer back then even though we didn't earn more than the current players. Back then football was entertaining for me compared to now, which is about protecting a point than winning the game."

The 44-year-old says it wasn't easy for soccer players to save money in his day due to societal pressure.

"We dealt with lot of pressure from the society that made it difficult to save. The society expected more from footballers. So we were impressing them by wearing expensive clothes and driving fancy cars. Even today's players are still doing that big mistake."

The Dikwena legend feels he was forced into retirement because of his age, something he believes is a problem in South Africa.

"In South African football when you are over 30 even journalists consider you as a has-been," he says.

The former forward believes the poor scoring rate by current PSL strikers is because of the defensive tactics applied by some teams.

"The game has become too defensive and our strikers don't use their chances."

Masanabo is now a married man with two kids.

"Yes, I am married and I have two boys. She [his wife] is a financial manager at Transnet."